Finding the most bizarre collection of tv shows aired here in Sydney a gem of a surprise was portrayed in an interview with Michael Parkinson who spoke with awe and honesty to Mr Don McCullin.
For a quietly spoken man, his ability to capture an audience is impressive, through words but more strikingly through his photographs. A humble man whose story is mainly conveyed through images from many wars over many decades in many parts of the world. He has a natural touch with the camera and often went out of his way to connect with people even if his life was at risk. He describes it almost as a duty rather than a job or a choice. Being present during such horrific incidences he finds a type of truth to show to the world, one where sorrow is everpresent.
In his later years he says it is the landscape that he is drawn to. The following image he admired for quite sometime but needed a figure to pass to make it come alive for him. There was a comparison made between these chimneys and the ones at the concentration camps. Even after war, the daily toil and hardship of people is evident. He gives us a sense that war continues in a more internal manner.
This last image is one that I have been familiar with for years but never knew the background to the character or the capturer. MCullin chose to take pictures of homeless people and document them through the Sunday Times. He spoke with these people and built up some rapport out of a deepset curiosity. Many of these people suffered from mental illness and seemed as if they were discarded and forgotten about. Sadly he compares today's younger homeless community with what used to be people of an older age. He slowed down while he described this man, he almost spoke quietly. It was like he was honoured to find him. He said that he looked at him with the bluest eyes and he gazed back. He found beauty and awe in him and I am so grateful he shared it.
